1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to table top football and hockey games, and more particularly pertains to a combination game board and storage case which is invertible to provide both a football field game area and a hockey rink game area. School children have played improvised forms of table top football and table top hockey for many generations, utilizing football game pieces formed from folded paper, and hockey game pieces formed by coins of various different denominations. The rules and formats of these games have generally been improvised during play and no standard rules or standard game board or playing piece format has been established. In order to provide a standardized version of these games to enable competition by individuals from different schools and geographic areas, the present invention provides a specifically dimensioned game board and specifically sized football and hockey playing pieces along with a standard set of game rules.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of table top football and hockey games are known in the prior art. A typical example of such a table top football and hockey game is to be found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,152,882, which issued to L. Engel on Apr. 4, 1939. This patent discloses a flat rectangular playing board having a pair of hinged goals attached at opposite ends. U.S. Pat. No. 2,801,853, which issued to J. Lombardo et al on Aug. 6, 1957, discloses a football game which utilizes a flat rectangular game board bearing indicia representing yard markers and having a pair of goal posts at opposite ends. U.S. Pat. No. 2,828,964, which issued to M. Horton on Apr. 1, 1958, discloses a flat rectangular game board simulating a football field which utilizes a plurality of spool shaped playing pieces to simulate football players. U.S. Pat. No. 3,554,549, which issued to T. Grabowski on Jan. 12, 1971, discloses a game which utilizes a flat rectangular game board having goal areas designated at opposite ends thereof. A magnetic game piece and a magnetic stick are utilized to impel pieces across the game board. U.S. Pat. No. 4,550,911, which issued to J. Daley on Nov. 5, 1985, discloses a football simulation game which includes a playing board having indicia representing yardage makers. A football shaped game piece is manually flicked through the air to strike a grid area secured to a goal post.
While the above mentioned devices are suited for their intended usage, none of these devices discloses a combination table top football and hockey game which utilizes a rectangular game board formed by two hinged sections bearing indicia representing a football field game area and a hockey rink game area on opposite faces thereof. Additionally, none of the above described game devices discloses the use of a specially constructed invertible case which provides two distinct playing areas and also forms a storage case for playing pieces and accessories. Additional features of the present invention, not disclosed by the prior art devices includes the provision of an invertible scoreboard having electronic digital display time and score indicators and powered by a solar cell. Inasmuch as the art is relatively crowded with respect to these various types of table top football and hockey games, it can be appreciated that there is a continuing need for and interest in improvements to such table top football and hockey games, and in this respect, the present invention addresses this need and interest.